A Tough Pill to Swallow
by Piccolo Sky
Summary: Sequel to "Going Through the Paces". More lighthearted and age-appropriate. As Hearth's Warming Eve approaches, Misty Meadow returns to lend her friends a hand in preparations...but soon finds out she has her own special challenge to overcome when ponies begin discriminating against her condition.


Hello again! After writing "Going Through the Paces" (which means you should read that one before reading this), I decided to do another one featuring my OC. I figure not everyone likes OCs in these stories, but she's the only one appropriate for this subject matter, as I'm once again touching on a personal theme that's into a real world issue. (Besides, it's not like I'm creating a seventh Element of Harmony for her or anything like that...)

This one is more "lighthearted" than my first foray into the world of MLP, and should be age appropriate for Y.

* * *

Twilight Sparkle's bedside alarm clock ticked off the last few seconds before 6 AM...and then immediately rung. However, it barely got out more than a few jingles before its owner's hoof came out and slammed down on top of it, immediately shutting it off. In a flash, the covers flew off of Twilight's bed and the pony emerged from it, touching down on the floor. Instantly, she snapped to the smaller bed at the foot of her own. Despite being so early, she looked perfectly alert.

"Spike, get up! Time to get to work!"

The baby dragonservant groaned for a moment, before starting to draw his covers over his head. "Five more minutes..."

"No, Spike!" Twilight called, immediately using her horn to lift his entire bed and unceremoniously dump him out. "We need to get busy! We have a lot to do today!"

Spike landed with a rather solid, and surprising, thud, jarring him awake. He perked his head up and looked around in confusion. "Huh? Wha?" A moment later, he looked to the alarm clock, and then to outside. It was still quite dark. Only the horizon began to turn purple. He immediately groaned. "It's still dark out, Twilight..." He did a double take on the clock, his eyes widening. "What the... 6 AM?!"

"Spike, I told you that we needed to get up early today!" Twilight responded, already going in a tizzy as she went about making her bed using her magic before resetting Spike's and doing the same. "That's why I had you go to sleep early last night!"

"...Really?" The dragon answered with a scratch of the head. He frowned. "...I just thought I was getting an early Hearth's Warming present..."

"Come on! Get the list!"

Stretching one more time, Spike quickly ran over to pluck a freshly written scroll from the nearby bookshelf, opened it up, and then quickly began to follow behind Twilight as she went down the stairs.

"We've got lots and lots to do today! I've been so busy writing reports I've barely done any preparation for Hearth's Warming, and that's in a week! Now read off the checklist!"

Spike nodded. "One...wake up."

Twilight rolled her eyes.

"Two...turn off alarm clock."

The unicorn slowed to a halt.

"Three...get Spike out of bed. Four...make beds..."

Abruptly, Twilight snapped on him. "Spike, get to the stuff we haven't already done!"

"Huh? Oh right!" Immediately, the assistant checked off the first few items, and smiled. "Ah, my favorite part! Breakfast!" He licked his lips in delight...that was, until a piece of toast hovered over to him, courtesy of Twilight's magic. He looked up from the list, stared at it curiously, and only slowly plucked it from the air.

"There you are. Bon appetite!" Twilight said in a hurried voice.

Spike looked downcast. "...No jam?"

"We don't have time! Now come on, get to the main things we need to do today!"

Sighing, the baby dragon ate the toast in one bite, and then read over more of the list. "Alright...clean house...buy decorations...put decorations up...plan dish for the potluck...assist in magic effects for upcoming pageant...shop for friends...visit the girls and have hot chocolate this afternoon... Oh, missed one! Meet Misty at the train station."

Twilight, who had been putting on her saddlebags, froze. "Misty!" She immediately rolled her eyes and groaned. "Ugh! I forgot all about that! She said she was coming in today for the holidays, didn't she?"

"How could you forget _that_ Twilight?" Spike questioned...smiling and thinking back. "She's the one who gives the best presents! I can't wait to see what she gave me for-"

Twilight looked down and gave Spike a stare. He immediately swallowed.

"Uh...I mean, what she gave all of us."

The unicorn frowned. "Actually, after that incident with your birthday, I told her to give you something more practical like doing a chore for you."

The baby dragon's mouth practically hit the ground. "HUH?!"

"It's not good for you to get too many actual presents."

Spike frowned and crossed his arms, grumbling a bit. As for Twilight, however, she was soon in a tizzy again. "I completely forgot about Misty! I'll have to pick her up at 9! Oh, this ruins my entire schedule! Now I'll have to reschedule shopping for decorations to earlier, but I _can't_ do that because the store doesn't even open until later so I'll have to move that back to 5, but I _can't_ do that because that's when Ms. Mare wanted me at the pageant! I guess I could move it until 2, but that will cut down on my shopping time, and I haven't even started for anyone yet, and-"

Twilight abruptly paused as Spike held up a jar filled with herbs in front of her face. She blinked a moment, and then smiled.

"Maltwillow! Spike, how responsible of you to remember to buy some extra medicine for Misty in case she runs out!"

The assistant rolled his eyes. "For Misty? I was thinking _you_ could try a leaf or two, Twilight..."

The unicorn's ears fell as she grimaced.

* * *

**"A TOUGH PILL TO SWALLOW"**

* * *

If someone hadn't known Misty Meadow that well, they would have had a hard time believing the filly riding the Ponyville Express at the moment was her. The gray mare had changed. She was still dark gray coated and colored, and her Cutie Mark, naturally, was still a misty valley, but her previously flat mane had been done up, and she seemed to have washed and cleaned herself to look more presentable and even attractive. Whereas before the mare would have been fearful and nervous about coming into a strange place, she looked out her window with expectation and anticipation on seeing the snow-covered Ponyville come into view, eagerly looking at the decorations, the charm, and, most of all, looking for her friends. She continued to do so until the station came into view, and the train slowly came to a halt.

The conductor moved into the car as the brakes hissed. "Now disembarking for Ponyville!"

Smiling, Misty got away from the window and nearly joined the other passengers coming out, before she paused.

"Whoops! Almost forgot." She said to herself. "And after last time, I want to make sure that _never_ happens again."

She moved to one of her own saddlebags and opened the flap, revealing a pouch that was already open, marked "Sagewillow X". Immediately, she leaned over, took some of the herbs out of it, and nibbled them down. After swallowing, she smiled again.

"All set!"

With that, she began to move out with the others.

* * *

At the station entrance stood Twilight, anxiously pacing one way and the other. Spike stood more patiently at one side, calmly waiting. After a moment, he frowned.

"Sheesh, Twilight. We're trying to make Misty feel at home...not act more like her."

The unicorn paused, and looked down to the platform. Sure enough, she had been in the process of starting to wear a groove into it. She sighed. "Sorry, Spike. I'm just...I'm just really eager for her to get here. I'm behind on so many things at the moment, I don't know if I can possibly get them all done before Hearth's Warming."

"_You're_ behind?" A familiar country-accented voice rang out, causing Twilight and Spike to look up.

Looking down the platform a ways, they saw two of their friends coming through the crowd and approaching the two, neither of them looking their best. Applejack and Fluttershy were walking side by side, and both of them looked like they had gotten up even earlier than Twilight, and even more haggard than her. Twilight and Spike actually reacted a bit on seeing them.

"Applejack... Fluttershy... What in Equestria happened to you two?"

Applejack moved up first. The earth pony was mottled with flower and apple filling all over her body, and struggling to shake some of it out of her mane and tail.

"I've been makin' pies and cinnamon cider non-stop for almost 2 full days..." She grumbled as she began to reach up for her hat. "Didn't help that Applebloom said she was gonna handle a bunch of the orders only for me to find out she hadn't been putting the spices in the mix and I had to redo 20 of them..." She proceeded to hold her hat over the ground and shake it...knocking out enough pie refuse to make five full pies before putting her hat back on. Spike, grinning in delight, moved up to it and quickly began to tie a napkin around his neck.

Fluttershy's own mane seemed completely messed up and interlaced with thread, and she had dark circles under her eyes.

"Oh...and it's been so cold out lately...I just had to try and make nice blankets and quilts for all my little animal friends... But it's been taking a lot longer than I thought...and I haven't had a chance to give my hooves a break." To accent this, she held up her her front hooves...which had swollen to three times their original size and were red and throbbing. "Angel's been trying to apply ice intermittantly, but I keep making the bags evaporate. See?" To accent this, she stuck her hooves in a pile of nearby snow...immediately vaporizing them and revealing a hibernating mouse, which woke up and looked around curiously.

Twilight stared at both of her discombobulated friends for a moment, before she heard a familiar groan from behind her.

"That's nothing compared to how simply _dreadful_ it has been at the boutique!"

The three turned and looked, only to see Rarity walking up behind them. Being winter, she was wearing one of her signature fashionable scarves, although it was a bit worn and frayed at this point, and only hastily thrown over her neck. As for herself, she looked dirty, sweaty, and her mane and tail were both frayed and messed up. Spike, on spotting Rarity like this, stopped right before about to take a bite of Applejack's leftovers. In a moment, he was at her side.

"Rarity! What happened to you? Did someone beat you up or mug you?" He immediately narrowed his gaze and threw some practice punches in the air. "Just point me at 'em! I'll thrash whoever did it!"

That, of course, was the absolute wrong thing to say, as it hinted at how she appeared. Rarity went wide-eyed for a moment, before she exclaimed. "You mean I look _that_ ghastly?!" Instantly, she burst into tears. "I knew it! I knew I looked absolutely horrid! But it's not my fault! I've done all I could on such short notice! There's only so far a lady can go before she reaches her limits!"

"Uh, calm down, Rarity..." Twilight said a bit uncertainly, trying not to focus on how bad the normally fashionable pony looked. "What happened?"

She immediately looked out. "What happened? What happened?! What _hasn't_ happened is more of the question! This Hearth's Warming season has been a nightmare! Everyone keeps asking for special orders! This one wants gold thread! That one wants silver lace! And that one wants sapphires instead of emeralds! I've been running myself ragged around Ponyville trying to get everything! And each new order is something different!"

Abruptly, a rainbow-colored blur fell from the sky and smashed into the platform so hard that it punched through. Twilight and the others immediately snapped to it in surprise, seeing the sudden damage. After a moment, a blue hoof came out and grabbed the side, before a grumpy and tired-looking Rainbow Dash yanked herself from the hole.

"Don't talk to _me_ about 'special orders'!" She complained. "That's all I've been getting ever since the pegasi in this town decided to start doing requests for Hearth's Warming! One guy on a block wants just a few flurries, but the person next door wants a blizzard, and the person next to him wants four inches of snowfall, and the person next to _him_ wants eight inches! And you wouldn't believe how much they complain if so much as one flake too much blows in from one person's yard to another!"

Abruptly, it started to snow on all of them...and snow heavily. The group looked surprised for a moment, before Rainbow turned her head skyward...revealing Derpy repeatedly bouncing on a gray cloud over the train station, staring off cluelessly into space with one eye...and the ground with the other...as she did so.

"No, no, NO!" Rainbow cried. "I told you a hundred times, _light flurries_ for the station, _whiteout_ for the park!"

Immediately, she flew off, letting the snow stop on its own accord...but not before three inches were covering everyone. Rainbow grumbled as she got out of her hole and quickly shook her coat. She sighed and turned her head, only to snap back as she saw a pink-colored pony wearing a white beard made of snow smiling at her in surprise, landing back in the white powder.

"Hey! How do you like my beard?" Pinkie Pie asked. "I'm more of a goatee pony myself."

The others similarly brushed themselves off as Rainbow got to her feet. Twilight, on seeing Pinkie there, managed a smile. "Oh, hey Pinkie. How are you?"

Immediately, she began to bounce up and down. "Why, I'm just super, Twilight! Isn't it a beautiful winter day? Perfect for picking up Misty!"

The unicorn smiled a bit and sighed in relief. "Well, at least one of us seems to be enjoying the holiday season. I was afraid Mr. and Mrs. Cake would have you overwhelmed with cupcake ord-"

Abruptly, a change came over Pinkie. It was like someone had shocked her with an electrode. Triggering some sort of buried mental response, her eyes shrank into pinpricks as she shrank down. "No, NO! No more cupcakes orders! Please, have mercy!" She cried to no one in particular. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry your cookies aren't ready yet! I've tried! Celestia knows I've tried! No...no...no...not another layer to the cake! I just baked this one! I can't do anymore!"

Seeing Pinkie's sudden "flashback" episode caused the others to stare uncertainly at her. Twilight soon grimaced. "...Maybe not."

Pinkie soon leaned in her face. "Twilight, it's been a nightmare! The orders don't stop coming in! We get three more for every one that we finish!" Abruptly, she held up her two hooves in her face, then four, then six, then eight. "I only have four hooves, Twilight! I can't keep up with everything! I've got sugar in my eyelids, milk in my ears, and vanilla extract up my nose! But you know what the worst part is?" She seized Twilight almost frantically. "You know what the _worst_ part is?!" Immediately, she began to break down in tears. "I'm starting to hate the sight of cakes and pies and cookies and cupcakes and everything! It just makes me sick to even look at them! I'll never be able to eat another baked good as long as I-"

Abruptly, she froze and looked over to the pile of pie remains, instantly lighting up. "Ooo! Pie!" In a flash, she materialized over at it, and devoured the entire supply in one bite. Spike blinked in response to this, and then began to have his lip quiver and his eyes shimmer with tears.

"Alright..." Twilight spoke up. "So we've all been really, really busy... But could we all just try to put that aside for a few minutes? Misty is back in town and she deserves to get a warm welcome rather than having us all go off about our own problems."

Applejack gave a sigh. "Yeah...I guess you're right, sugarcube."

"Besides," Rainbow threw in. "We don't want to give her any more stress and have her blow up like last time."

The other five stared at her. Rainbow shrugged. "Well, she did."

"I'm sure she's been taking her Maltwillow regularly, so there'll be nothing to worry about." Twilight stated matter-of-factly. However, she paused momentarily after that, and looked uncertain. "...But just to be safe, let's avoid talking about our personal problems."

"And try to steer her toward subjects she has an interest in." Rarity added.

"And...make sure she doesn't lose anything..." Fluttershy threw in.

"And keep the parties and other ponies around her to a minimum." Pinkie concluded.

Twilight grimaced a bit. "Hope this doesn't end up being more stress for _all_ of us. Now, everyone smile, but be calm and composed, try to give her a nudge in case she can't remember our names, and not be as overbearing as-"

"Twilight!"

The unicorn was suddenly cut off, as she turned to the ramp of the train. Immediately, both she and the other ponies reacted in surprise. There, standing at the top, was Misty...but she looked like a whole new pony. She didn't even look this good and happy even when she departed last time. Before any of them could do anything, however, Misty came down the ramp and put her hooves around Twilight, giving her an embrace.

"It's so great to see you! I've been counting the days before I could come back to Ponyville!" Immediately, she parted and looked around to everyone else, hugging each one in turn. "Applejack! How's your business going? What about your big brother and little sister? Fluttershy! Is everything going well with the animals? The change in weather wasn't too much for them, was it? Rarity! I took your advice and decided to start styling my mane! Do you like it? Rainbow! Break any new records lately? How did your tryouts at Wonderbolt Academy work out? And Pinkie! You don't know how much I've missed your cookies! There's nothing like them in Manehattan! Oh, and Spike! Did you like that checkers set I gave you? I wasn't exactly sure if you would..."

The seven were a bit stunned. Sure, these greetings were all warm and friendly enough...but that was kind of the antithesis of Misty. She had never been so forward and cheerful. Rainbow leaned in toward Twilight even as she gaped. "Uh...who is that, and what has she done with Misty?"

Rarity soon leaned in from the other side. "Indeed." She spoke quietly. "If she was anymore outgoing, I'd say we were being invaded by Changelings again..."

"No...that's her, alright." Twilight responded. "It's just...wow. She's...certainly opened up."

After a moment, Pinkie ventured forward. "Oh...Misty, it's great to see you again!" She said after a moment of hesitation. She paused for a moment, and then spoke again. "So, read the latest Daring Do book?"

Misty turned to Pinkie at that and smiled widely. "Heh, of course!"

Hearing that, the other ponies immediately sat, getting situated and waiting for a long diatribe. However...nothing came out. Misty merely stood there smiling. Pinkie's own smile faded into confusion.

"Um...you did?"

"Yup!"

Pinkie paused. "So...aren't you going to tell us all about it?"

Misty paused herself, her own smile fading a bit. "...Do you want me to?"

Rainbow immediately began to shake her head no, but Fluttershy spoke up first before it could go far. "Actually...um...I'm sure it's quite lovely, but if you could perhaps tell us some other time?" Immediately, she swallowed, and quickly nervously spoke again. "I mean...not to upset you, or anything. You tell very good stories and you tell them very well...and if you'd really get upset if you didn't tell us, then please, by all means do. It's just...if you don't want to, you don't have to, and..."

However, Misty cut her off with a shrug. "If you don't want to hear it, that's fine. I'm sure you'll all read it yourselves when it comes out in Ponyville."

"And...I'd just really prefer it if you didn't get angry again, and...huh?" Fluttershy paused. She soon gaped at Misty, as did the others.

Misty shrugged again. "I know I like telling stories, and I really would like to tell you that one, but I know you all get bored when I do, so I think I'll just let you read it for yourselves."

The others stared longer.

"And...you're not...mad at all...if we want to do that?" Rainbow asked uncertainly.

"Of course not." Misty responded. "I mean, we're all still friends anyway, right?"

The six blinked a moment longer, but then finally began to smile a little.

"Well...yeah! Of course!" Rainbow threw in.

"Um..." Applejack said, moving in. "I'm...I'm guessing you learned those songs from last time, didn't you?"

"Heh, did I? You bet I did!" Misty answered. "I'm sure it'll make a good Hearth's Warming gift!"

"Uh...you bet it does!" Applejack responded. "So...why don't we go play them on a real piano?"

"Oh, that'd be great!" Misty responded. "But I'm sure you all are busy. It can wait until later."

"That way you don't...hold on, what?" Applejack paused, looking to Misty strangely again, as did the others.

"I mean, I'm sure you're all busy." Misty said with a shrug. "It's a busy time of year. Whenever you're free will be fine, and only when you have enough time to hear them all."

The six gaped. Yet that was nothing compared to what happened next. Abruptly, a family of ponies got off the train and began to pass by the group. As they did, they looked to Misty and waved.

"Happy Hearth's Warming, miss!"

Rather than cringe or look away or stay silent, Misty turned to them, and immediately smiled and waved back. "Happy Hearth's Warming to you too! I hope you have a great time this season!"

Now the six were visibly gaping.

"...Still want to rule out a Changeling?" Rainbow muttered to Twilight.

Misty soon looked back to the others, and her face fell a little. "But...oh my...you six look like you've been run through the ringer. I hope I'm not keeping you from anything..."

"Actually-" Rarity began to say, before Twilight put a hoof over her mouth.

"Of course not, Misty! We're just...uh...um..."

"Uh...coming back from a race?" Fluttershy lamely suggested.

Misty blinked. "...A race? But...isn't there a bit too much snow for that?"

"Um...that's what made it so delightful!" Rarity threw in as Twilight pulled her hoof away. "You know...crisp, cool air...beautiful layered snow... Like a world of diamonds, really."

"And, uh, besides!" Applejack threw in. "We could use the challenge of cross-country runnin'!"

"Yeah! Nothing beats a good race in winter where there's a new challenge! It's no fun if you don't push yourself!" Rainbow added.

Misty paused, but then seemed to buy it as she smiled again. "Well, that sounds fun. I wish I would have gotten here sooner. I could have joined in."

Abruptly, however, Pinkie popped her head in.

"And _I_ wish I hadn't been so busy baking cakes and cookies all day! That race sounds like it was a lot of fun!" She snapped to the others with a frown. "Why didn't you tell me that's what you were all doing instead of working this morning?"

Twilight facehooved, as well as the others with her.

Misty's look changed. "Oh...you all _are_ really busy, then?"

The unicorn hesitated a moment, but then decided there was no sense hiding it. "...Well, it's important to see you too, Misty...but yes, we're all real busy. It's been a really packed last month and we're all trying to get some time to get ready for Hearth's Warming."

"I'm so far behind on the pies and cider, I'm not sure we're gonna make enough to pay for everythin' this year if I don't hop to it." Applejack threw in.

"And I've been run so ragged that I think I'll have to close my boutique on Hearth's Warming Eve by the time it gets here." Rarity sighed. "I just won't have the time for the holiday rush..."

"And...if I don't get all these blankets finished...I'll be taking care of colds and the flu for all my little friends the rest of the winter..." Fluttershy added.

Misty looked a bit downcast at that. "Gee, I was hoping we could have spent a bit more time together, as you girls are my first real friends..." She paused a moment longer, but then perked up with a smile. "Hey, I've got an idea. How about I help you all out?"

The six looked up at that. "Huh?"

"Sure! I'll help each one of you for an hour each day!" Misty responded. "That way we'll get to hang out together, and I won't be distracting any of you from your work! I know what it is to have a deadline, believe me."

The six looked to each other momentarily. Truth be told, Misty was acting different...but it seemed to mostly be changes for the better. Still, if she blew up or went into one of her rants while they were working, it would be problematic. Still, none of them were really in a position to refuse help at the moment. After a few seconds, they looked uncertainly to Misty and gave weak smiles.

"Uh...sure!" Twilight finally stated. "Why not?"

"Sounds great!" Misty grinned.

* * *

About forty minutes later, Applejack was suppressing the urge not to stare at Misty uncomfortably, and not succeeding very well (honesty could be a virtue and a curse, after all). They were back at the Apple family homestead, and the entire Apple clan was furiously making pies as fast as they could without violating Granny Smith's essential rule of leaving out love and care. Both Big Macintosh and Applebloom didn't look much better than Applejack. In fact, Applebloom looked as if she had been entirely dunked in apple filling more than once. Applejack stared at them a moment, then looked to Misty, who smiled at her in response. After a moment, the earth pony sighed and decided to get it over with.

"Alright, partner...here's the thing. We need to be in charge of actually makin' the pies and cider, but we're going to need someone to handle gettin' the apples ready."

She gestured to a nearby pile of bags of apples.

"All the apples in _that_ pile go into pies..."

She gestured to another one nearby.

"And those ones go to make the cider. Alright...for the ones for pies, you need to peel them _carefully_. Try not to waste any of the meat along with the peel. Then slice them up _just right_. Not too thin or it'll turn to mush, and not too thick or it'll be like eatin' apples instead of pie. Like this."

Applejack proceeded to take up an apple from the bag and took a peeler in her teeth, and carefully peeled the apple as Misty watched. Once done, she sliced it up using a knife.

"Just like that. But you also need to sort the cider apples. We use only good apples, but don't go thinkin' just because it's got a little blemish or two on it that it ain't any good. We only want the best apples, but throw out too many and we'll be in the hole. It's a lot of judgment and you've got to be very careful. Now...you try."

Misty looked down and blinked a moment, but then took up an apple and set it down. She got a peeler soon after and, moving a bit more slowly and uneasily than Applejack, peeled the apple and sliced it up. Nevertheless, she did it well. She then looked to the cider bag. Pulling out a few apples, she looked them over a moment. Applejack watched her carefully, and after a moment she picked out good ones and threw out a bad one.

The cowgirl pony nodded. "Not bad. But you're gonna have to step it up or you won't be no good to us. Now...I know you...I mean, anypony could get frustrated from all this fine work and examinin', so if you feel you wanna quit anytime or take a break, then don't-"

"Here you go, Applejack."

Abruptly, the pony was cut off. She blinked a few times, and then looked down in front of her on the table to see another freshly cut apple...done just as well as the first, only much faster. Next, she looked up to Misty, and saw her already at the other bag, quickly looking over a new set of apples, throwing out the bad ones and keeping the good.

Applejack blinked, but then managed a smile. "That ain't bad, Misty. Now just remember, if you-"

"Here you go."

Applejack looked down again, and this time gaped a bit to see _two_ apples done. Meanwhile, Misty sorted even more apples, then turned back to start peeling again. Applejack blinked.

"That is, if you-"

"Here you go."

"I mean..."

"Here you go."

"If you wanna stop at any-"

"Here you go."

Applejack blinked, speechless.

"Big sis!"

The cowgirl pony turned her head, looking to Applebloom and Big Macintosh, who were staring at her.

"You gonna hold up the line all day? We're waitin' on you!"

"Eeeyup."

Applejack looked down, and saw she now had quite a pile forming of finished apples. She blinked a few times, but then quickly snapped out of it. "Uh, yeah! Of course!" Passing some along to the others, she got to work on some of her own.

"Tarnation...I never thought she would have picked up on apple peelin' so quick..." She murmured to herself.

* * *

An hour later, and Misty was seated in Fluttershy's house near the table. Both of them had piles of thread and quilt material near them, as well as filling for in between, and both were stitching. Fluttershy was doing somewhat more of a fast job, while Misty seemed to be focusing harder and having a harder time.

"Oh, it was very nice of you to agree to help out, Misty." The timid pegasus said as she kept working. "I didn't know if I'd ever get these done."

"Well...I've never done it before..." Misty admitted as she concentrated on her own stitching, seeming to be focusing rather hard. "But if I can help you out, then I'll be glad to lend a hand." Even as she said this, a group of birds fluttered by. Misty, rather than ignore them, looked up to them briefly and smiled. The birds smiled back at her, before flying over to roost in another part of Fluttershy's house.

In response to seeing this, the pegasus smiled. "Wow, Misty. I was afraid you didn't like the other animals...you know, after last time."

"Oh no, I like animals." Misty answered as she kept working. "I was just...you know...too focused on worrying and stuff last time... This quilt is for that family of robins, right?"

"Oh yes. I'm making each one extra special for each one of my animal friends." She began to point to the quilt images. "See, here's a picture of their favorite tree, over here is a picture of their favorite type of berries, this one's of the hanging arbor that they love to play around, and..." Here, she reached Misty's picture...and paused. "Oh. Oh dear..."

Misty paused in her work, and looked to the picture. It was one of what looked like a chicken coop. "Huh? What's the matter?"

Fluttershy looked up to Misty, and immediately swallowed. She quickly recoiled back in her own seat and shrank away from her. "Nothing. Nothing at all. It's perfect."

Misty looked to her curiously. "Huh? You sure? You don't look like you like it."

Fluttershy immediately shook her head. "Oh no...not at all. It's beautiful. There certainly isn't the slightest thing wrong with it that would make me in the least bit disappointed or would make you the least bit frustrated so that you might throw a fit and smash up half of my living room. I mean...even if...uh...um..."

Misty leaned in. "If what, Fluttershy?"

Swallowing again, and covering her eyes with one hoof, she nervously pointed out to the square Misty was doing. "If...that picture was the one for the chickens instead of the robins...and you stitched it by mistake..."

Misty looked to it, and seemed to realize it for the first time.

Covering her eyes with her other hoof as well, Fluttershy cringed and wrapped her wings around herself. "But it's beautiful! I'm sure they'll appreciate it! I always want them to live inside the chicken coop anyway! Nests are no place for robins! There's no need to get upset or..."

Fluttershy was stopped when she heard a small noise. Nervously, tentatively, she pulled back her wings and lowered her hooves, and stared in surprise.

Misty was calmly using a sewing shears to cut the stitching she had already done to remove the square. She looked up to her with a smile. "Can't give the robins the wrong picture, can we?"

Fluttershy blinked. "You're...not upset that you have to do it again?"

Misty shrugged as she kept working. "Maybe a little...but what good will throwing a fit do? It'll only mean more work for both of us as we have to clean everything up. I shouldn't sweat the small stuff."

Fluttershy hesitated a moment longer, but then raised up more and nodded with a smile.

"You're exactly right."

She soon turned back to her own work and resumed.

* * *

Another hour went by, and now Misty found herself within Rarity's boutique. The unicorn still looked rather haggard as she went about working furiously on one of her mannequins, rapidly stitching and adjusting. Misty, meanwhile, stood in the back, patiently waiting for a chance to help.

"Maybe three inches higher... No, two inches lower... No, an inch higher... No, three inches lower... No, four inches higher... No, two inches lower... Perfect!" She smiled, but then frowned again. "And that's exactly where it was to begin with! I'm growing so terribly flustered!"

"So...what can I do to lend a hand?" Misty volunteered.

Rarity paused, and then sighed and turned momentarily to look over to the gray mare. "Misty, I'm very grateful that you're willing to help and all, but I'm afraid this work is incredibly delicate and I have an established system. If I deviate from it, everything will fall apart and I'll be more behind than ever." She turned back to her work after saying this.

"Well, then I won't sew or anything." Misty suggested as she stepped forward. "Maybe I can just go get you things."

Rarity sighed, but before she could speak again, the door to the sewing room suddenly opened. In walked a small white unicorn with three slips of paper in her teeth. She approached Rarity and set them down at her feet.

"Here, Rarity." Sweetie Belle announced. "Three more orders. Oh, and four alterations for your newest dress."

Rarity's pupils shrunk. "Alterations?! Again?!" She immediately snatched up the papers and looked them over. She soon let out a sigh and threw the back of her hoof against her forehead. "Oh! I know I wished so badly for the ponies in Ponyville to be more particular about their fashion styles, but why oh why did they have to take my advice so close to Hearth's Warming? I'm going to have to do another round of shopping that will take me a good hour! And I'm certain there'll be even more orders when I return!"

"Let me help." Misty suggested again with a hopeful smile.

The unicorn sighed again, and then turned to Misty. "Misty...you're an angel and all...but this is a high demand workplace. Dressmaking isn't for the faint of heart. You have to be able to keep many things in order and have a head for detail. I'm afraid the stress would be too much for you." She held up the slip. "Just take this for example. To complete just this one dress, I'll need eight rubies, thirty clear gemstones, three spools of silver thread, two spools of pale golden thick thread, four yards of silver lace, two more yards of white satin fabric, four more yards of off-white silk fabric, and three yards of silver satin fabric." She looked up and over to Misty. "And that's just the requisite amounts for a single dress. Keeping them straight for several orders is-"

Rarity cut herself off, as she noticed Misty wasn't standing in front of her any longer. Instead, the gray mare was darting around the room with a basket in her teeth, going about all the materials. After a few moments, she shot over to Rarity and set the basket at her feet. "There you go!"

The unicorn blinked, and then sighed. "Misty, I thank you for your good will, but this is too much to remember. How am I supposed to finish this dress with..." She looked down in the basket, and soon her eyebrows quirked a bit as she went through it.

"Eight rubies...thirty clear gemstones...three spools of silver thread...two spools of pale golden thick thread, four yards of silver lace, two yards of white satin fabric, four yards of off-white silk fabric, three yards of silver satin fabric..." She echoed as she went through it all. Then, her eyes opened a bit. "...And a fresh box of pins?"

"I figured you'd need those with all that fabric, and I saw you almost about to run out while I was watching you." Misty responded.

The unicorn looked up and blinked for a moment, but then smiled as she leaned in closer to Misty.

"How are you at shopping?"

* * *

After yet another hour, Misty found herself standing outside on one of the blocks in Ponyville, looking up to Rainbow.

"Alright, so what can I do to-"

However, before she could get out another word, Rainbow suddenly popped down in front of her, holding a box and giving her a sly look.

"Before we get started, 'Misty'...would you care for some of these cookies that Pinkie made for me?" She opened the box and held it in front of her temptingly. "They were made with lots of _love_." She made sure to draw out the last word.

Misty merely stared at the box for a moment, then smiled. "No thanks. I ate before I came."

Rainbow frowned, and proceeded to toss the box away, disturbing a cat. After that, she leaned up and crossed her hooves as she hovered there. "In that case...no offense, Misty, but I don't really think you can make my job any easier. I mean...you kind of need wings to lend a hand with making it snow. About the only thing you can do is this..."

Misty soon went a bit wide-eyed as Rainbow proceeded to drop a rather sizable stack of papers right on top of her, and she barely managed to reach out and grab them before they fell. Buckling a bit under the weight, took her a moment to get stable before blinking at them. "Whoa... Are these all the special orders the pegasi have gotten?"

"No, those are the special orders _I've_ gotten. There's even more for all the pegasi." Rainbow corrected. "Sheesh, I don't know why we started doing this! Pegasi have to shop and decorate too! Now I'm going to be spending all day just making it snow for everypony else! Normally, I'd ask if Twilight could lend a hand organizing everything, but she's just as busy too!" She sighed. "Anyway, just read off the requests to me. That way I don't have to keep checking at least."

Rainbow turned her head to the side and braced herself to move...but heard nothing. She waited a moment, and then frowned and looked back. "Um, Misty? Anytime now."

Still nothing. Confused, the pegasus looked all the way behind her, and found that Misty had set the slips of paper down and was now looking over them one at a time, placing some in one group and some in another. Rainbow groaned, slapped a hoof against her face, and pulled down. "_Now_ the real Misty decides to come out..." She muttered, before flying over to her and looking right at her.

"Uh, Misty, this is going to take even longer if you don't stay on task."

The gray mare looked up to her. "Oh, sorry Rainbow. I just noticed something... I'm stacking all these orders together, and they're all the same block."

"Yeah, so?" Rainbow asked, getting a bit impatient.

"Well, the lightest amount of snow on this block is an inch. Everyone else gets heavier from there."

The pegasus sighed. "Alright...but so what?"

"...So...how about starting by making it snow an inch on _everyone_." She said. She held up more slips. "Then you make it snow two inches on everyone except these three...three inches on everyone except these four...and so on. That way, you don't have to visit each house and drag a cloud over each one and measure individually."

Rainbow blinked a moment, and considered that. "...You know, that's not such a bad idea. I guess we can see if I get done faster. Thanks a lot!"

With that, the pegasus vanished in a rainbow streak to get a cloud large enough for the whole block. As for Misty, she continued to separate the stack.

* * *

Another hour passed...and now, Misty found herself in the bakery and once again in an apron. She was looking a bit uncertainly at Pinkie at the moment, who had a hoof over her mouth and was beginning to flash a shade of green. The gray mare didn't really understand...because what appeared to be nauseating her was a stack of already-made rich desserts lying on the counter and ready to be taken away. Any other pony would have found them mouth-watering...but Pinkie's cheeks only bulged at the sight of them.

Misty looked to the desserts for a moment, then back to her. "So...um...what can I do?"

Abruptly, Mrs. Cake burst in, and quickly grabbed an armful of the deserts to take out. "Pinkie, please hurry! We still need two chocolate tortes and a caramel delight! We've got to get it done before Carrot and Pound's feeding time!"

Pinkie looked up with a smile to Mrs. Cake as she turned and exited. "Sure thing, Mrs. Cake! With my assistant helping me..." She looked back to the remaining desserts. "I...I..." Abruptly, she turned green and lost her smile again. "...I think I'm going to be sick..."

Misty blinked a few times. "Um...Pinkie, I can't really help unless you tell me what to do."

Shaking her head, the pink pony raised her head and breathed in and out a few times. "Ok...time to get my game face on!" She stated boldly. "For the chocolate tortes, we need five cups of sug...sug..." Immediately, she started to turn green again. "Sugar...all that sugar...that's gotten stuck under my hooves and messed up my tail and I have two whole cups already in my mane..." Immediately, she shook her head again. "No! Alright! We need some chocolate to make the ganache..." However, she soon turned green again. "Rich...chocolatey ganache...so thick...so rich...the thought of it sitting on a lump in my stomach makes me...makes me..."

Again, she slammed a hoof over her own mouth and ducked her head to the side. Misty recoiled and looked uncomfortable again. After a moment, Pinkie leaned back up.

"It's...it's no use, Misty... Just thinking about dessert makes me feel like I've got a dozen butterflies in my stomach...and that they're having a decathalon..."

The gray mare blinked, and tried to be encouraging. "Well...maybe I can get your mind off of things?"

Pinkie immediately flushed another shade green. "Oh...but...if I start hearing more of your long stories...I'll only think about dessert even more than before..."

Misty paused a moment, and thought for a few seconds, looking around a bit in the room. Finally, her eyes spotted something...a few balloons in a corner. She got an idea.

"Then how about...balloons?"

Pinkie paused in confusion, and looked up at that. "Balloons?"

"Yeah. I figure you must like balloons."

The pink pony blinked again, as the color faded from her face. Soon, she leaned up a bit. "Well, duh. Everyone likes balloons."

"Oh really? Well...I mean, what can you do with a balloon? All you do is blow it up and then let it fly, right?"

Immediately, Pinkie shot up the rest of the way. "Are you kidding me? There's at least 578 different things I've thought of to do with a balloon so far! You can get some thin balloons and bend them into really cool shapes like horses and dragons and French poodles! Or you can get this really big, really ginormous balloon and float around Equestria on it! Or you can rub them really, really, really hard against your mane and then stick them to a wall, and that way you don't have to worry about running out of ribbon to tie them with! Or you can take one with you if you get stuck on a deserted island and paint a face on him and name him Wilfred and talk to him and have tea parties with him if you get bored!"

"Oh yeah?" Misty asked as she subtly passed a bag of sugar and a cup measurer to Pinkie, who began to subconsciously measure it out. "Huh...I guess you really can do a lot with balloons. I mean, I see your Cutie Mark, and I figure you must know all there is to know about them."

Pinkie looked rather proud of herself as she finished measuring out the sugar. "Well, I _did_ major in throwing parties, but I have a double minor in balloons and cakes." Immediately, she produced a degree written in crayon out of nowhere and held it before her. "See?"

"Wow, that's amazing." Misty said as she passed the chocolate to Pinkie next. "Say, how _did_ you get your Cutie Mark, anyway?"

"Oh, you want to know?" Pinkie answered as she began to chop the chocolate up. "Well, it all started back on my parents' rock farm..."

* * *

After one more hour of stories and baking, Misty found herself along with Twilight in City Hall, which was rather a mess at the moment. Ponies were running to and fro everywhere trying to get ready for the annual pageant. Although it was still a week away, there was a lot of work to be done before then. Normally, the six girls would help with most aspects of production, but being busy themselves, Ms. Mare had stepped in to try and get everything organized, and wasn't doing too well. She seemed to simultaneously be arguing with the costume/scene makers, the actors, and the tech crew all at once.

At a farther distance, Twilight and Misty walked in on the chaos, seeing all the ponies running around. Twilight sighed a bit, and then looked to Misty with a smile. "Well, I thought you'd be pretty nervous around all these strange ponies, but it looks like you're handling it well, Misty."

The gray mare smiled back. "Don't worry, Twilight. I'm feeling fine."

"That's good. But...I'm not sure you can help out here that much. I'm in charge of effects, and...well..." She leaned her head down to show her horn off. "I'm...not too sure you can really lend me a hand with magic."

"Oh, that's alright, Twilight." Misty answered. "You go right ahead. I like to watch these more than anything anyway."

The unicorn nodded. "Alright then. I'll just be up here working on my illusion spell to make the Windegos." She turned and began to walk toward the stage that had been set up.

"Great!" Misty called back. "And while you're doing that, I'll pass some time by playing the piano!"

Immediately, she shot off, as Twilight froze in midstep, her eyes widening. "P...Piano?" She immediately turned and held out a hoof. "Wait! Misty, wait!"

However, she was too late. The gray mare was already at the piano in the corner, and in an instant was seated in front of it. Twilight began to swallow. If she started playing one of her gloomy, fearsome songs, it would be rather awkward...making most people probably think she was here for Nightmare Night rather than Hearth's Warming. She sweat a bit and waited for the inevitable.

Yet the unicorn soon got a surprise. Smiling a bit, Misty began to play a slower, yet pleasant and light, song...an old carol, one of the originals from the first Hearth's Warming. What more, she played it very well, with warmth and passion. Twilight was honestly surprised, and blinked incredulously at her. She knew she had been working on making "nicer" songs...but this?

It wasn't long before the nearest people stopped arguing or struggling, and paused to turn and listen to Misty. Others soon did as the first quieted down. Gradually, the hall became quieter and calmer, all the way until the wave of listening moved all the way up to Ms. Mare.

"Why haven't you gotten to painting scenes two and three yet?"

"...Because I'm the director."

"Oh...well, in the case, how come _you_ haven't conducted sound checks yet? You've been fiddling with that for a long time."

"...I'm the seamstress, Mare. The tech crew is that one."

"Ugh...alright, in that case, how come you haven't run the cues yet?"

"We need someone to do the music for that. Otherwise we're going to be off on all the light cues."

"Oh...I forgot to get a person to play the score! And only a week before Hearth's Warming! What am I going to...huh?"

Abruptly, the mayor stopped along with the others and looked to the piano. So did those she was arguing with. Soon after, the whole room was silent, and captivated by Misty's playing. Twilight blinked again at it.

"She used to hate playing for a crowd...and now she doesn't mind at all?"

After a few moments more, the carol was finished. Misty let out an exhale. However, she soon looked up in surprise when the ponies in the room began to clap and applaud. Twilight joined in with them. She looked in surprise for a moment, but then began to blush in embarassment.

As she did, Ms. Mare stepped forward. "That was wonderful! You have some talent, young lady. Tell me, do you know any other Hearth's Warming carols?"

Misty kept her head bowed and rubbed an arm with a hoof. "Well...I know a couple, but I can play almost anything I have the sheet music for so long as I practice."

"Hey..." The mayor continued. "I know you... Aren't you Sylvan and Golden Meadow's daughter?"

Misty again looked a bit embarassed, though not necessarily nervous. "Yeah... I'm back in town for the holidays."

"Well..." The mayor responded. "So long as you are in town, how would you like to help our pageant out by playing the score?"

Misty looked up and blinked a few times in surprise. "Wha...me? You mean...me...playing for all these ponies...having them all waiting for me to make a mistake...knowing that if I make one screw up it'll ruin the show's timing?"

Twilight tensed on hearing this, wondering if Misty was about to break down...

Abruptly, the gray mare smiled. "Well...if it'll help the pageant, then sure!"

The unicorn's eyes popped open wide, and she gaped.

"That's wonderful!" Ms. Mare responded. "I'll get you the sheet music so you can start studying right away!" She turned and ran off to get it, while other ponies came in and congratulated her. Misty didn't look nervous at all...but rather delighted. After a few hoofshakes, she looked to Twilight and waved, showing off her enthusiasm.

Twilight stared a moment longer...but then simply smiled and nodded back.

* * *

At long last, with the sun going down and the cold of a winter's night coming in, the six had settled down at the local cafe at a table around an outdoor brazier and cups of hot chocolate. All of them were in much better moods than that morning, and all were cleaned up and at ease.

Rainbow sipped her cup and then wiped her mouth with the back of her hoof, before adding another mini marshmallow to her mug. "Alright, she may not be a Changeling, but I _still_ say she's not the same Misty that we met a few months ago."

"Oh, forget _that_ Misty. I prefer this one." Rarity said with a smile as she daintily sipped her own mug. "She was an absolute Celestia-send at the boutique. Because of her, I actually got enough orders in to earn enough free time to give myself a proper grooming, and now..." She said with a flourish of her mane. "I am once again simply _fabulous_."

"Huh...all that stuff I heard about ponies with the Paces bein' so focused on detail they can't get anythin' done is a bunch of hooey." Applejack said with a smile on her own. "She was both fast and neat with them apples. Churned 'em out as fast as we could throw 'em into the grinder or the pies."

"Well, she's still only a beginner at sewing," Fluttershy added. "But even with all the mistakes she made, she didn't get upset once. She just calmly corrected it and moved on. I'm so happy. I was afraid she'd scare the animals so much that I'd have to stop to...you know...clean up a few messes from the pigeons."

"I don't remember her actually helping bake anything at the bakery..." Pinkie threw in, as she piled one marshmallow after another into her own glass (not seeming to realize there was a small, overflowing mound at this point). "But somehow, I got a whole lot of desserts finished while she was in there!" She tried a sip of her drink after saying this, held her head in the air and thought for a moment, then smiled. "Needs more marshmallows!" She said right before beginning to add even more.

"Well, I think that leaves no doubt about it." Twilight said after sipping her own mug. "Something's definitely changed Misty for the better."

"You reckon maybe she got over the Paces?" Applejack suggested.

Twilight thought a moment, but then shook her head. "I don't think so. That's not something a pony really 'gets over'. But she's definitely learned how to control her symptoms."

"You can say that again." Rainbow threw in. "She's actually acting like a normal pony for once."

Twilight gave her a look.

The pegasus paused, then added a bit more. "I mean...you know...acting less awkward and nervous."

Shortly after saying this, the gray mare in question began to approach the table, carrying a cup of hot chocolate of her own. "Oh, hey girls!" She said with a smile. "I'm sorry I'm a bit late. I wanted to get at least some of my next chapter in even if it's not due, especially since the first two chapters were done all wrong and I wanted to get them into my publisher before they left for the holidays." She soon pulled up a chair and sat at the table with the others. "I'll just need to make sure to get it done tomorrow before noon and it'll be fine."

Again, the six paused on hearing that, and looked curiously to Misty for a moment. They blinked, and looked to one another for a moment, before back to her.

"And...you're not nervous at all?" Fluttershy asked.

"You aren't making yourself a wreck trying to meet your deadline?" Rarity threw in.

"Oh, I used to...but I realized that I don't have to worry." Misty responded as she leaned back in her chair a bit. "I always get them done in plenty of time. I shouldn't stress out so much."

The six paused again, and looked to each other for a moment, and then back to Misty. This time, they began to form crafty smiles.

"Alright, Misty. I think it's time you came clean." Twilight stated.

Misty, however, kept smiling. "Come clean? I'm afraid I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on, sugarcube." Applejack threw in.

"I still remember how you went on a rampage the last time you thought you were going to miss a deadline." Pinkie threw in, then shrank back a bit. "Er...no offense."

Misty shook her head. "Oh, none taken. I know I was out of control when I did that."

"But look at you now!" Twilight responded. "I've never seen you so calm and confident before. I've got to know...what's your secret?"

Misty snickered after a moment. "Heh...I guess you guys figured out that something had changed. Well, you're right. I am doing things a bit different."

"Oh, do tell us." Rarity asked. "This is nothing short of miraculous."

"Yeah, come on. Don't bait us all day." Rainbow threw in.

Misty exhaled, and then finally shrugged.

"Alright, I guess I can let you six in on it. The truth is really simple. I owe it all to learning a few new relaxation techniques, reflecting a bit more on other ponies and less on myself, and-"

"Sagewillow X!"

Abruptly, Misty's smile faded, and she looked up a little in surprise. "Huh?" However, none of her friends had spoken. It had come from behind her at a distance away, but had been so loud that she had heard it from the cafe. Apparently, the others had too, for they looked up as well along with her, and all turned their heads around to the source.

As it turned out, it was coming from next door, which happened to be Horse Pill's drug store. Yet there seemed to be a bit of an incident in front of it at the moment. There were a number of middle-aged and older ponies gathered in front of it, as well as numerous mothers with their foals. Most of them looked like they had been busy going around on various jobs to prepare for Hearth's Warming, but now they had gathered and were giving angry looks to the front of the door, where an innocent-looking Horse Pill was standing and staring at one in the lead with a gray mane tied back in a bun, sharp-lensed glasss, and a rather cross look about her while balancing on a cane.

"I cannot believe, Mr. Pill, that you're selling Sagewillow X at this drug store!"

Misty's eyes widened a bit more on hearing that. So much so that she barely noticed the others behind her frowning slightly and leaning to each other.

"Tarnation...what is Ms. Prim Rose up to now?" Applejack said as she stared.

"I dunno, but she can be a real pain." Rainbow complained. "It seems she always riles up all the moms and Old Gray Mares in Ponyville once a month to complain about _something_."

"Yeah! Just last Nightmare Night, they all complained to Mr. and Mrs. Cake that we were putting too much sugar into the cupcakes!" Pinkie added. "Are you _kidding_ me?" She snapped to Applejack and leaned in so that her own eyes, when they bugged out as she spoke, pressed into hers, making her recoil. "I mean, is there even such thing as too much sugar in a cupcake?!"

Applejack looked back at Pinkie a moment, studying her momentarily. "Uh..."

"Oh, I just wish she would pick somewhere else to complain." Rarity sighed. "I could do without the noise pollution while I'm trying to unwind... Let's just hope Mr. Pill agrees with everything she says and gets her to leave as soon as possible."

Misty heard little of this, focusing on the conversation in front of her as Mr. Pill frowned. "What? What's wrong with Sagewillow X, Ms. Rose? You don't even take it."

"No, I don't! And you can be certain that no one in my family ever will! No one should! It should be prohibited from being sold in _any_ store in Equestria!" Ms. Rose retorted. "All that horrid herb is is an excuse for pony medicine makers to earn a few extra bits off a non-existent disease!"

Misty's mouth loosened a bit.

"But Ms. Rose, it only gets prescribed by actual doctors for real illnesses..."

"_Real?_ You call being a little overexcited, a little nervous, or a little unruly a _real_ illness?" Ms. Rose retorted. She scoffed. "Back when I was a young filly, we called it a child in sore need of stronger discipline and self-control. We didn't run off to gobble down special herbs just to magically make our problems go away. We learned stronger character and virtues and came out stronger ponies for the experience."

"Everyone knows that ponies who eat those type of herbs are hardly even ponies anymore!" One of the older ponies threw in. "They just eat those herbs all day and get turned into mindless zombies! The herbs make them so goofy they can't even act properly!"

"All this nonsense I keep hearing about how Sagewillow X will help out-of-control children focus better in school and on their chores...rubbish!" A mother holding a colt near her exclaimed next. "The parents simply need to crack the whip a little harder and not always cater to their child's every want and need. These lazy parents just want to have a magic cure for every problem with their children and don't care if they make their own foals hopelessly addicted to herbs while turning them into driftless, purposeless, weak-willed morons!"

"Mr. Pill, I'm only coming to you first so that you can hopefully do the right thing." Ms. Rose continued. "Take these horrible herbs off of your shelves before some clever ad-man tricks the good people of Ponyville into taking that rubbish for imaginary problems! I'm giving you a chance to do it of your own accord. But ignore your own customers and the well-being of your own community, and you will leave me no choice but to go directly to the mayor. Consider this your only warning!"

The crowd turned and began to walk off, Ms. Rose along with them. However, after only a moment, she paused and turned back. "And I suggest that if any stallion or mare comes around requesting that poison, you encourage them to learn some self-restraint and will power rather than trying to cure all of their problems with weeds!"

Misty was aghast. She gaped in shock at what she had just seen. But now that the angry crowd was dispersing, she swallowed a lump in her throat and immediately started to tense up.

"So...what is it, Misty?"

Instantly, the gray mare went rigid, and then snapped around in fright.

"Huh? What's what?"

"You said you learned new relaxation techniques," Fluttershy calmly recalled. "Learned to reflect more on other ponies, and you said, 'and...'. And what?"

Misty paled. She began to sweat a bit. She looked to each of the six, calmly smiling and looking back at her.

"...And..."

She swallowed again.

"...And..."

She turned her head back to the drug store momentarily, and then back to the others, still smiling and waiting. Finally...she nervously smiled herself.

"And...that's it!" She said with a grin. "Heh, that's all there is to it!"

The other six looked back for a moment. Pinkie, after a moment, put a thoughtful hoof to her chin.

"Huh... With that much of a buildup, I thought it would be something more exciting." She then smiled and shrugged. "Oh well!"

Twilight, however, hesitated a bit. "...Really? That's all?"

"Heh...you bet!" Misty said in response, her sweating continuing. "Just, um, strong willpower and character!"

The others blinked a moment, and Misty feared they didn't buy it. But then, they all began to smile together.

"Well I'll be." Applejack commented. "Shows you what you can do when you put your mind to it."

"Yes indeed." Rarity added. She turned to Twilight. "It seems even a so-called 'incurable' ailment is no match for a strong pony's spirit."

Twilight looked a bit hesitant at that. "I'm not so sure about that...but..." After that, she smiled and shrugged. "Can't argue with results!"

"Huh...heh...yeah..." Misty said, still sweating as she rubbed the back of her mane. She was getting very tense now...which meant it was time. Trying to angle herself away from the girls, one of her hands reached into her saddlebag pouch and clasped the paper parcel inside. She began to pull it out...when Fluttershy suddenly poked her head in with a smile.

"Oh, what do you have there, Misty? It looks like a bag for pet treats."

Misty went rigid, snapping to Fluttershy nervously. "Huh?! No, no! I mean..." She paused a moment, looking to the bag...and then rapidly crumpled it up. "It's...it's just a bit of trash, you see! I've had it in my saddlebag for a while because I didn't want to litter."

Fluttershy blinked. "Oh...really?" She smiled wider. "That's so thoughtful. Here. Let me take care of it."

Before Misty could think of anything clever to say to stop her, the yellow pegasus reached over and took the bag from Misty's hand. She tried to protest. "Uh...uh..." However, she couldn't think of anything to say. And soon, to her horror, she was helpless to do anything but watch as Fluttershy flapped in the air, moved over to a nearby garbage wagon that a duo of civil-service ponies were hauling by, and tossed it on top of a pile of refuse...instantly making it vanish inside. Misty's mouth gaped the entire time as Fluttershy came back and sat down.

"All done." She said with a smile...before she noticed Misty's reaction. Her look turned to concern. "Are you alright, Misty?"

The gray mare looked around for a moment, and saw that the others were starting to look more concerned as well. Swallowing hard yet again, Misty took a moment to compose herself...and then immediately resumed her previous persona.

"I'm fine! I couldn't be better! Let's finish our hot chocolate before it gets too cold outside for it!"

"Sounds good to me!" Pinkie cheered in response, before raising her own mug to her mouth, and pausing in confusion. She turned her cup over a moment later, and let chocolate-soaked marshmallows fall right out...leaving nothing behind. She blinked. "Huh...looks like they forgot to fill my cup again..."

Misty and the others giggled a little at this, and then began to drink their own...Misty struggling to stay as calm as possible and not to look at the leaving garbage wagon as she did so.

* * *

Early the next morning, Misty was at her parents' house in her old room, which had been made up for her. Unlike many other ponies' rooms, it was very simple and lacking in anything but essentials. She had thought lately of sprucing it up more, but that was out of mind now. Instead, she was breathing long and slow and staring at the room mirror as she struggled to put her mane up.

"Alright, Misty..." She told herself. "So...you had to throw out your Sagewillow X...you can always get more..." However, soon after, she grimaced and whined. "But...if I go into the drug store and ask for some, one of those Old Gray Mares could see me doing it! And they'll tell the whole town! Twilight and the others will think I'm some kind of weak-willed zombie! I can't let them see me taking it!" She paused a moment, then groaned again. "I'm already starting to feel nervous again..." She exhaled. "Alright...here's what I'll do. I'll just help out the others today, and once I'm done, I'll go get some _Maltwillow_. The Old Gray Mares aren't complaining about _that_, and it'll help ease my symptoms enough to where no one will every know. I've just got to get through today."

She exhaled, and slapped her cheeks with her hooves a bit, before smiling. "I can do this."

A moment later, her smile slumped again.

"...I hope."

* * *

Just as the previous day, Misty went about helping her friends in the same order as before. Unfortunately, in spite of her best efforts, things soon began to show a difference.

As Applejack finished with her current pie and passed it on down, she paused and looked over to Misty...noticing that she was only now finishing with a fresh set of apples, whereas yesterday she had piled up some waiting. As she took it from the gray mare, Misty looked over to the other set of apples, but did so slowly. And when she started examining them, she was more meticulous. Applejack formed an uneasy look.

"Uh, Misty?"

The pony turned and looked back to her. "Huh? What, Applejack?"

"Uh...could you pick up the pace just a mite?"

Misty blinked a few times, then looked nervous before immediately working again, going back up to near her speed from yesterday. "Oh...oh, I'm sorry, Applejack! Just...um...trying to get a feel for it."

The earth pony looked somewhat confused. "Well...alright, but you seemed to have the hang of it yesterday. I was almost thinking of enterin' you into the apple-peelin' contest on the farm next fall, fast as you were goin'. Somethin' botherin' you, darlin'?"

"Huh?" Misty responded, freezing and looking nervously to Applejack. Immediately, she shook her head a few times, and returned a smile. "No, nothing at all! I'm fine! Just...uh...thinking about my deadline!"

Applejack blinked. "...What deadline? I thought you were on break..."

"Oh, look at that!" Misty cut off. "I've still got two more bushels of apples to peel! I better get to it! Can't spend all day just chatting!" Immediately, she dove for one and began to peel it.

The cowgirl pony stared a moment longer, then got back to work herself, occasionally giving a look to Misty.

* * *

Fluttershy's place was next, and things weren't too much better there.

The pegasus was knitting and sewing away calmly enough...but before long, she noticed that Misty seemed to be having problems. She looked up from her own work and over to the earth pony as she winced every now and then from pricking her fingers. She blinked a few times.

"Um...Misty? Are you feeling alright?"

"Huh?" Misty responded, snapping her head up so quick that Fluttershy recoiled a bit. However, on seeing this, she quickly calmed and smiled. "Oh, I'm fine, Fluttershy! Just...having a bit of difficulty today is all."

Fluttershy paused, but then leaned up. "Oh. Ok, then. It's just you seemed to be having more problems today than you did yesterday, so I was wondering if something was on your mind."

"Oh no, nothing at all." Misty responded as she kept working.

The pegasus paused. "Well, in that case..." She raised a hoof. "I should probably point out that you're stitching the wrong picture again."

Misty froze, and looked to her work. "What?!" She outburst. For a moment, her face tightened up as she raised the part of the quilt into the air. "What a...!"

However, she cut herself off rapidly...as she saw Fluttershy shrinking back and covering her hooves over her mouth. A second later, she swallowed and forced a smile.

"...lovely quilt that I just had to go and mess up with my thoughtlessness!" She said in a nervous, happy voice. "I'll just...get the shears and fix this little mess..."

As she went back to work, Fluttershy managed to recover and resume her own work, although she nervously looked to Misty from time to time. Every time the gray mare looked up, even innocently, she let out a small yelp and recoiled a bit.

* * *

It was a similar story at the boutique an hour later.

As Rarity continued to stich, a somewhat tense-looking Misty came up to her and set a basket down nearby. The unicorn turned to it and began to lean over it to get the things out...when she paused, and looked up to Misty.

"Oh no, dear. I said I needed 3 rubies, 5 emeralds, and 7 sapphires. This is 3 sapphires, 5 emeralds, and 7 rubies." Immediately, she lowered her horn and summoned her own magic to pull out the four extra rubies, and set them before Misty. "Here, you take these back and get me four sapphires."

Misty paused only long enough to realize she made a mistake, and then groaned before nodding. "Sure. Sorry, Rarity." She said as she took the rubies and turned away.

"Oh, it's nothing to worry about, darling." She responded as she got to work making the dress with the materials she already had. "But...are you feeling quite alright? You seem to be a bit 'muddled' this afternoon."

"No...no, I'm fine." Misty said as she went back over to the unicorn's materials, and began to put the rubies back and get out other materials. "Just...uh...just a little tired, that's it. I was up late yesterday. You know, first I get to Ponyville, then I meet up with you girls, then I'm running about... I guess I'm just still a little strained from yesterday."

"Well, don't start running yourself ragged as well, Misty." Rarity answered as she kept working. "It's quite difficult during this time of year for that sort of thing. The spa is booked solid. I mean _I_ took the precaution of reserving myself a slot every three days for the next month, but if a pony hasn't fit themselves in and those lines of stress start appearing then they'll look simply dreadful all the way until the new ye-"

Rarity paused again as Misty returned to her. She looked to what she had brought her, and then back up.

"Oh...I needed only _four_ sapphires, Misty. This is five."

The gray mare looked down again. "Huh? Oh, sorry... My mind was just wandering on...I mean, I thought you said five!"

She quickly took one back in a flash, while Rarity looked a bit puzzled.

* * *

Another hour later, and Misty was outside as Rainbow, flying in the air, gave one snow cloud two heavy kicks...and then just a light tap in order to adjust it perfectly, causing a steady snowfall over another house. After that, she zoomed over to Misty again. However, whereas Misty had readily been organized yesterday, she looked like she was having quite a bit more difficulty today.

"Alright, Misty. What block next?"

The earth pony stuck her tongue out to the side of her mouth and narrowed her gaze on the order slips. Rainbow hovered a moment, then frowned.

"Misty, what next?"

Hearing the urgency, Misty snapped her head up, and then shook it. "Oh, uh... The McGregors get six inches and the Clovers get one inch."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that? The McGregors are, like, 80 years old and can barely get to their mailbox when it's _sunny_."

Misty raised her head at that, and then quickly looked to the orders again.

"Oh...right, right! The _Clovers_ get six inches and the _McGregors_ get one inch!"

Rainbow zoomed off to grab another snow cloud and brought it over to the next house, beginning to kick it. "You know, you're don't seem like you're as focused today as you were yesterday, Misty. Don't think just because we did so good yesterday that we can ease up now. I just told the other pegasi since we were working so fast that I'd pick up the slack on their other orders, and we've still got a lot to do before Hearth's Warming."

"I know, I know." Misty responded as she quickly doubled down on trying to organize everything. "It's...uh...it's just...um..." She looked around herself a moment, then spoke up again. "It's just I have a writing cramp."

Rainbow paused in the middle of kicking. "...A writing cramp?" She said in disbelief.

"Oh yes! You can get them if you do things like this too much."

"How can you wear yourself out just from shuffling orders?"

"Oh, it's definitely serious." Misty responded. "You work yourself too much, you'll only make it worse. Then you won't even be able to pick up a piece of paper, let alone sort it."

The pegasus didn't look entirely convinced, but then shrugged and continued to kick...not noticing Misty sighing in relief.

* * *

After that came Pinkie, but it was a bit harder today. Misty was able to weakly smile at Pinkie's stories today, but she was having a harder time with it as the pink pony kept working.

"...So then, I started thinking all my friends didn't want to go to any more of my parties, so I tried making new friends...literally! I actually was talking to a pail of radishes! Can you believe it? Ha ha! Anyway, naturally, the radishes were a bit upset when I learned the whole thing was a misunderstanding, but radishes are pretty easy going when you break off a relationship with them. They don't hold a grudge or anything."

Misty nodded a few times, but then suddenly lit up. "Say, you know what type of vegetable you should never take on a boat?"

Pinkie paused, but then shook her head.

"A leek!"

Both Misty and Pinkie laughed in response to that.

"Or here's another one." Misty continued. "What do you call a horse who lives next door? A neigh-bor!"

Both laughed again at that.

"Oh, and you'll love this one! An earth pony, a pegasus, and a unicorn are on a deserted island..."

Abruptly, however, Misty cut herself off. She noticed Pinkie had stopped working to listen to these jokes. Immediately, she shook her head.

"I mean...I'll tell you that some other time after you tell me how you cleared up that misunderstanding." She immediately stated. "Now go on, what happened next?"

"Huh?" Pinkie responded. "Oh...uh...um..." She looked to the sky for a moment and tapped her chin. "Hmm...what was I talking about again?"

"You know, the bucket of radishes?"

"Oh yeah! Sorry, my train of thought derailed for a moment when I heard those jokes..."

"Oh...uh...I'm sorry about that... I'll stay quiet for the rest of your story." Misty immediately apologized. "Anyway, go on."

"Well, Rainbow finally came in to try and give me the news..." Pinkie responded as she resumed work. Misty sighed in relief, and wiped some sweat from her brow.

* * *

At long last, there was only one pony left to take care of. Misty was back in town hall at the piano, studying a set of sheet music and trying to play it out. However, as she worked on it, looking a bit tense and frustrated as she did so, another pony came by and dumped a stack almost three inches high next to her on the bench. Misty looked to it with wide-eyes...and soon groaned as she turned back to working on her current melody.

Twilight, meanwhile, was trying out her three fake Windegos for the show, making them swirl over the six principles who were rehearsing a scene. However, as she worked, she soon noticed Misty nearby as she began to play one of the songs. She soon moved over to her with a smile. "Hey, Misty. How's it coming?"

"Huh?" Misty said, turning her head behind her. "Oh...it's going well, Twilight...I mean..." She looked to the stack. "Even if I have to learn all this music in less than a week..."

"Well, it's still six days away." Twilight responded with a shrug. "Just stay calm like yesterday. I know...heh, I'm probably the last pony to tell anyone to keep calm, but it's good advice. Besides, it'll make your playing sound better."

Misty had just about been ready to start playing again, when she went rigid.

"Sound...better...?"

"Yeah. You're playing a bit stiffly today. That notes are going together as easy as they did yesterday."

Misty began to quiver all over. However, Twilight gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"But I'm sure you're just a little nervous from getting all this new music. Tomorrow, you'll be a lot better!"

The gray mare swallowed, then looked to Twilight with an uneasy smile.

"Uh...heh...yeah! You're right!"

The unicorn smiled herself, and then turned and walked back to the stage. Misty, meanwhile, looked past Twilight to where the drug store was.

"Tomorrow...I _will_ be a lot better..."

* * *

Finally, after practice, Misty began to walk up to the drug store, inhaling and exhaling and talking to herself.

"Alright...it's been a bit of a long day, but it's fine now. All the girls are in for the day, so all I need to do is go pick up some Maltwillow, and then everything will be fine. It doesn't work as well as Sagewillow X...so I'll probably be acting like I did today for the rest of the holidays..." She said with a grimace. "...But at least I won't have any episodes. Maybe I can just relax myself a bit more and then I'll be able to make up the slack."

Soon, the gray mare pushed her way into the drug store, and walked straight up to the counter, where Horse Pill was adjusting a few things on the shelf.

"Excuse me, sir. Could I get a month's supply of Maltwillow?"

The stallion turned and shook his head. "Wish I could, young lady. But look." He pointed nearby.

Misty looked...and gasped. Immediately, she shot over to a shelf that previously held herbs and medicine, but was now quite empty.

"Huh? What the... No Maltwillow... No Sagewillow... No Sagewillow X... No Sassasnap... No Sage Root..." She turned back to Mr. Pill. "What happened?"

"Ms. Prim Rose happened," Mr. Pill answered as he reached behind his counter for something. "And quite a few of the other mares in town with her. Got themselves enough signatures to put a petition before the mayor for a new decree, and she handed it out to me this afternoon."

An official-looking piece of parchment was unrolled and held in front of the counter. Misty quickly shot over to it and looked it over, eyes going wide in shock.

"'Effective immediately,'" She read aloud. "'The sale of sense-altering herbs, tonics, berries, fungi, and medicine is prohibited in Ponyville. Medicines include, but are not limited to, Sagewillow X, Sagewillow, Maltwillow, Sassasnap, Sage Root...'" She glanced over the others, then looked up to Mr. Pill. "But...but...my doctor prescribed it to me!"

Mr. Pill sadly shook his head. "Sorry, young lady." He pointed lower on the document. "You'd need the word of a Ponyville doctor to convince Ms. Rose, and any doctor in Ponyville that tries to prescribe these medicines will have her and the other Old Gray Mares and parents kicking down their doors for 'corrupting the youth' and 'turning our citizens into herb-guzzling zombies'. Only thing you can do now is head to the next nearest town."

"But...but...the trains are booked solid through the holidays!" Misty protested.

"Like I said, I'm sorry." Mr. Pill said as he rolled up the parchment and turned away, heading back to his shelves...while Misty looked more nervous than she had in a long time.

* * *

The next morning, Misty was once again in front of her mirror. She tried to style her mane...but wasn't doing too well today. She only made a few slight improvements as she stared at herself.

"Alright...I'll just have to go on foot to the next town..." However, she soon winced at that. "But...the nearest town is 20 miles away... I'd have to run at full speed and I'd still lose a couple hours. And I already agreed to help the girls today! I don't have time for both! And if they see me missing, they'll wonder why, and they'll find out it's because I went to get some Sagewillow X, and then they'll know I take it and they'll think the only reason I've been acting so well lately is because I'm taking a special herb!"

She paused a moment, and exhaled, then looked at herself again.

"Alright...then there's only one thing I can do. I've got to use all the will power I can muster, every technique I've learned, and try to stay focused and control myself. And then, I only need to do that for..."

She looked to the calendar, and soon groaned.

"...The next three weeks..."

* * *

Naturally, it didn't take long for things to go south.

Applejack, Applebloom, and Big Macintosh had just finished up their current pies, and then turned to grab the next...only to see no apples were waiting for them, and that the bag looked untouched. Applejack frowned a moment, then looked up to Misty.

"Uh, Misty? We can't make pies without apples. Could you...huh?"

She soon cut herself off as she saw the gray mare holding a pair of apples in her hooves, her head darting from one to another as she grew sweaty. Applejack moved over to her with a raised eyebrow. "Uh, darlin', what's goin' on?"

"I...I can't decide between these two apples... Are they good? Are they bad? I mean...this one..." She shoved it into Applejack's face. "This one has a small indentation on it...but this one..." She held up the other in her face, forcing her back a little. "It's got a blemish on its skin!"

The cowgirl pony waited a moment, then shook her head. "Um...they both look alright to me."

"Are you sure?" Misty asked nervously.

Applejack rolled her eyes. "...I've only been inspectin' apples my whole life, Misty. Anyway, we need more apples peeled."

"Huh? Oh yeah, of course!" She threw both apples into the cider mixer and quickly took up the peeler.

As she did, Applejack went back over to her family and waited for the next load...and waited...and waited...and waited. After a moment, Applejack looked back down again with a raised eyebrow, and soon was a bit surprised at what she saw.

Misty was only very slowly, very meticulously peeling off her second strand of peel from her first apple, sweating the whole time like she was performing surgery. "Can't...get...too much...apple..."

Applejack groaned as she rolled her eyes again.

* * *

Over at Fluttershy's was no better. Yesterday, the pegasus had only been a little intimidated, but now things were worse. Misty was using the shears to cut another mistaken square, and looked irritated this time.

"Ugh! I've only been doing this for two days! How do I keep managing to screw these things up? I keep wasting all this time stitching the wrong square!"

Fluttershy swallowed. "R...really, it's no big deal, Misty... Just take your time..."

Abruptly, Misty snapped on her, making her recoil a bit. "I don't have time to take my time anymore, Fluttershy! I've backed you up so much with these stupid mistakes of mine that you'll never get done in time! Ugh! If only I could cut faster!" She began to push in more with her shears, moving quicker than before.

As for Fluttershy, she swallowed, and then tentatively leaned up. "Really...there's no need to get so upset. Besides, if you keep working that fast, then you're going to..."

A large ripping sound suddenly went out, and Fluttershy winced to hear it, closing her eyes momentarily. When she opened them up again, she saw what had happened. Misty was grimacing as well as she held two severed halves of one of the quilt designs in her hooves.

Fluttershy swallowed. "Um...I...I can sew another..."

"Ugh!" Misty groaned again as she threw the severed halves on the floor. Immediately, she snatched Fluttershy's out of her hands and began to work furiously. "Fine! Do that while I finish this!"

The pegasus cringed a bit, letting out an uncertain whine, before she began to shrink away to work on making a new square.

* * *

The misfortune only continued over in the boutique.

As Misty placed a basket in front of Rarity, the unicorn shook her head. "No, dear. I said 2 rolls of blue lace and 5 spools of white thread. This is 5 rolls of white lace and 2 spools of blue thread. Hurry, take it back. There's more orders today and I'm falling behind!"

The gray mare nervously took up the components, ran back over to the materials, and soon began to frantically look through them again...seeming to forget where she once knew everything was.

"And while you're at it, bring me 3 spools of scarlet yarn, 4 purple bows, and 2 yards of gold silk!"

Rarity grimaced a moment later as she saw several of her things go flying from Misty looking around frantically, before she shot back, sweaty and haggard, with a fresh basket. Rarity looked inside, and soon frowned.

"Misty, this is 3 spools of white thread, 4 rolls of blue lace, 2 spools of scarlet yarn, 5 yards of gold silk, and 2 purple bows!"

"Huh? But...isn't that what you said?" Misty said, beginning to sound a bit frantic.

"No." Rarity said, shaking her head. "I said..."

Wincing, however, Misty shot back over to the supplies with her basket.

"And do hurry, dear!" Rarity called out to her. "You still need to pick me up 8 yards of dark green fabric, 6 yards of light green fabric, 12 yards of heavy, thick green fabric, 10 yards of heavy, light green fabric, and-"

"Augh! You're confusing me!" Misty called from where she was, now having formed a pile of Rarity's materials that were a moment from capsizing on her...before they did a moment later, making the unicorn recoil and put a hoof to her mouth in alarm.

* * *

"Come on, Misty! What's next?" Rainbow called.

"Uh...um...a foot of snow..."

Rainbow immediately flew to a larger storm cloud and ripped off a hunk of it.

"No wait! _Two_ feet of snow..."

Groaning, Rainbow tore off an even larger piece.

"And it goes to the Gables..." Rainbow began to take off. "No wait, the Lilacs!" She abruptly changed direction and went somewhere else. "Not here! The ones on the next block!" Rainbow shot by again. "No, the next block over!" She went by yet again. "No, the older sister's! No, the cousin's! No wait, it's not Lilac at all! It's Liana! No...it's Linseed! No, it's..."

Abruptly, Rainbow popped her head in. "Ugh! Enough already, Misty! Just tell me where it needs to go! We're running late!"

Flustered, frustrated, and sweating, Misty dropped her order and point. "Just...over there!"

Eager to get a move on, Rainbow moved the cloud over an area and began to kick it furiously, until it dumped a good two feet of snow on the ground. She sighed after she was done, but then raised an eyebrow, and looked below to where she had dumped it. She soon recoiled in shock...seeing it was directly on Apple Acres. Misty seemed to realize that for the first time too, and gasped as well.

A mound of thick snow shifted, and abruptly Granny Smith's head popped out.

"Dagnabbit... We're snowed in! Worst blizzard since '76! Tunnel out some air holes and hunker down for the spring thaw!"

Rainbow stared in surprise a moment, then turned her head to Misty and gave her a glare. The gray mare swallowed in response.

"I'll...get a shovel..."

* * *

"...And so what does she do?" Misty said, a bit more eager later...but still looking rather sweaty, tired, and discombobulated. "She uses the eyeglass lens to burn the rope and set off the trap early, and it causes a chain reaction which sets all the other traps off and she doesn't get hit by one! Isn't that incredible? Anyway...so of course, after that, she does her signature swinging in on a vine and snatching the priceless emerald from the bad guys. Ah, that never gets old."

"Nope!" Pinkie said with a smile. "It sure doesn't!"

"Phew...I tell you Pinkie. Today has been a lot of stress. But I've really been able to unwind now that we're here in the bakery. Maybe the next three weeks won't be so bad after all..."

"Well," Pinkie said with a smile. "I'm sure having a good time! I mean, after listening to me for two days, I can see how you'd want to talk about things you like all day today."

Misty abruptly froze as her smile faded and her eyes widened. "...Huh?"

She turned her head...and immediately yelped on seeing not so much as a single cookie had been baked. Abruptly, the door flew open as Mr. Cake poked his head in.

"Girls...huh?! What?! Pinkie, we need an order of five dozen cookies and two cakes in five minutes! The customer is already coming! What were you doing this entire time?!"

"Hmm?" Pinkie said innocently as Misty began to sweat again. "Oh, not to worry Mr. Cake! I'll get right to work on those rich...sugary...vanilla flavored...uh...um..." She began to turn green again at the thought of more dessert, and held a hoof to her mouth as she collapsed. Misty, sweating bullets at this point, soon passed out as well.

* * *

Twilight focused hard as an aura enveloped her horn, struggling to get her snow spell just right. Too much, and the stage would be buried. Too little, and the audience wouldn't even notice when it started. She concentrated and worked a bit longer, adjusting the amount of falling snow.

"Little more...little more...no, a little less...just a dash more...aaaaand..."

A moment before she could say "perfect", a cacophany of bad notes began to ring out, ruining her concentration. Immediately, her spell was overdone, and the cast rehearsing on stage barely had time to look up before they were buried under two tons of snow. They dug themselves out readily, but it wasn't just Twilight who was disturbed. The scene painters ended up making big errors, jarring the scrim with streaks of color. The costume makers abruptly jerked and messed up their stitching. The actors tried to say their lines, but quickly began to forget them, unable to concentrate. Occasionally, what sounded like a carol came through, but for the most part it was more of an annoying, broken melody than music.

Twilight looked up to the source, and soon found Misty, sweating almost a puddle on the ground, struggling to play one of the carol melodies. "No..." She said, backing up and trying again, only to make another mistake. "No..." She tried again, with the same error. "No...!" She tried one more time, then messed up yet again, causing her to scowl. "No, no, no!" She shouted, pounding her head against the keys each time.

The unicorn looked rather uncomfortable, before wincing again as Misty started playing badly once more. She couldn't really concentrate on her magic now. She had to wait until Misty hit a break. As she waited, however, the doors to the front of city hall opened, and in walked Spike, grunting and straining a bit as he was tethered to Twilight's wagon and yanking in a huge pile of presents. He had to practically get on all fours himself and use his claws to drag himself up to Twilight, and when he reached her, he wiped his brow and sighed in relief...before his ears perked up, and a moment later he frowned and covered him.

"Sheesh...when I heard I would have to start your shopping while you helped out with Ponyville's pageant, I thought I was getting the raw deal...but if it meant listening to _that_, I'll take it." He turned his head and looked to Misty, then rolled his eyes. "Why am I not surprised? That one sounds good enough for a play about Discord..."

Abruptly, after having made a fresh error, Misty angrily put her hooves on the piano and slammed the key lid down...smashing her own hooves in the process and making her yelp in pain. Grunting, she gathered up the sheets, turned, and began to angrily storm out.

Twilight blinked as she saw her go. "..._Now_ she's starting to act like the Misty I know...and that's not a good thing."

Suddenly, Spike went cross-eyed, and a rumble went out in his stomach. A moment later, and he belched...proceeding to cough up a written scroll. A moment later, he went cross-eyed again and belched out, in rapid succession, four more. Twilight reacted in surprise. "Huh? Five messages from Princess Celestia?" She quickly used her horn to take up one and unroll it, and soon looked more confused.

"Wait, this isn't a message from the princess. It's from Applejack." She read it aloud. "'Dear Twilight, sorry, but I can't make it to caroling tonight after all. Misty wasn't as big a help today as she was over the last two days and we're behind on pies and cider again.'" Putting this aside, she took up another one. "And this one's from Rainbow Dash. 'Working late because Misty got me more disorganized than ever.'" She put it aside, and got up another. "From Fluttershy." She soon looked at the letter in a bit of confusion. "Uh... 'Misty...quilting...scary.' And that's it." She quickly glanced at the last two. "And one from Rarity and one from Pinkie Pie. I can guess what they're about..."

Rubbing his stomach a bit, Spike straightened up again. "Sheesh, and here I thought Misty was a lot better after seeing her when she first got here. You think something in Ponyville is setting her off?"

Twilight paused and rubbed her chin for a moment. "I wouldn't think so..."

Even as she did this, however, her eyes flickered to one of the windows. Outside, she happened to catch a glimpse of Ms. Prim Rose walking by, looking grumpy as usual, and hobbling a bit on her cane.

"Then again..." The unicorn spoke up again. "Maybe there is." She looked to her assistant. "Spike, let's get these gifts home and then go and see the others. I think we need to have a little 'chat' with Misty tomorrow..."

* * *

The next morning was quite a bit bleaker over at Misty's house...as she slowly moved in front of her mirror, her mane flat again, and glaring darkly at it with a grim look. She held for a moment, then formed a fake smile.

"Oh look...another _wonderful_ day. Well...I'll just eat breakfast, run a brush through my mane, head on over to Apple Acres...and then what'll happen?"

She held for a moment with a dark grin...before ducking out of view of her mirror then popping back in which a hastily-placed cowboy hat on her head, as she began to speaking a mocking country tone.

"'Oh Misty, darlin', you're goin' way too slow! We can't get these pies out! You're holdin' up the line!'" She yanked the hat off of her head angrily. "I'm trying to give you high quality! That's what you wanted! It's not _my_ fault that you're so backed up! Maybe I shouldn't help at all!"

She ducked out of the way, and then back again, this time sweeping her mane around her head a bit and imitating a quieter voice. "'Oh...oh...oh Misty, you're messing up that quilt again.' Well how about organizing them into piles for the right animals?! And how am I supposed to know that bunny likes carrots and that bunny likes lettuce anyway?! They're just bunnies to me!"

She ducked again, and this time came back with her hair curled around an old paper towel roll, as she spoke in an airy voice. "'Oh darling...if you're finished with that laundry list of specific items I have another one for you twice as long and three times as hard to find.' _I'm_ the one who has to go out and get all that stuff, while all _you're_ doing is stitching them on a mannequin!"

Another duck out, and coming back with crayons of the rainbow hastily stuck in her head. "'Hey, why don't you move it faster, Misty? Can't you tell me the right orders?' Why, _yes_, Rainbow! I mean, I've only been doing this for all of _three days_, not to mention the fact that I don't have wings so I can't exactly see the whole town at once!"

Ducking out again, she came back with her mane messed up. "'Oh, hello Misty! Even though I work in a bakery, the sight of dessert makes me sick! Mind asking me every detail about my life story so I'm distracted enough to work?' Ugh! I could write an encyclopedia based off of everything I've been hearing and there's _still more work!"_

She finally ducked down and came back up holding a cone party hat to her forehead. "'Uh, Misty, could you play a little better? It doesn't sound right.' Well excuuuuuuse me! I'm only still flustered from going too slow with Applejack, stabbing my fingers with Fluttershy, having my brain scrambled with Rarity, getting totally disorganized with Rainbow, being driven batty by Pinkie, and _NOW_ I have to work on learning the music for Hearth's Warming and get stuck in front of a few hundred ponies?!"

Throwing the party hat aside, she seethed and glared in the mirror for a moment.

"That..._does it_. I'm going to march right up to those ponies and tell them I can't do it! And I'm going to give them a piece of my mind while I'm at it! See how they like it when someone just constantly nags and nags and nags and nags and..."

Misty continued as she turned and began to stomp toward the front door of the house, shaking the entire place as she walked along.

"Nags and nags and nags and nags and nags and..."

Finally, she made it to the front, yanked it open fiercely, stepped outside, and slammed it behind her.

"Nags and _NAGS!"_

"Alright, now!"

Misty suddenly froze, and looked up in surprise. "...Huh?"

Abruptly, she was tripped and fell flat as Fluttershy and Rainbow shot out from either side of the door, yanking a rope with them, and proceeded to trip Misty and make her fall flat on her back. The second that was done, Applejack and Spike leapt out from the bushes. The gray mare only had a moment to look in surprise before she was tackled and vanished into a cloud of dust as the two swept over her in a mass of chaos. A moment later, they stopped...and the dust cleared to reveal Misty's hooves tied together, leaving her prone on the ground and rather confused.

Still not done, Pinkie ducked in with a feather and proceeded to tickle the bottom of Misty's hooves. After a moment, she began to laugh out loud, her mouth opening...just in time to have Twilight use her horn to shove a mouthful of Maltwillow inside and slam it shut again. Pinkie let up, leaving Misty surprised with a mouthful of herbs, before she chewed a few times and then swallowed. After that, she blinked in astonishment for a moment, wondering what had just happened. But as she did...a shadow fell over her, and she looked up to it.

She soon saw her six friends looking down on her, half-surrounding her.

Misty swallowed, cringing a bit. "You...you six...didn't hear what I just said, did you?"

Applejack's eyes narrowed. "Darlin'...I think the whole block heard that fit you were throwin'."

Misty cringed even more. She began to form a sheepish look. "I'm...I'm...I'm really, _really_ sorry... I didn't mean any of it. I just...I just got really frustrated and overwrought and-"

Twilight gave her a look. "_And_ you didn't take your Maltwillow again, did you?"

Misty gulped again, looking more nervous than before. Twilight sighed, but then shook her mane. "I figured you'd forget again. That's why I got prepared with 'Plan M' in case something happened like it did at the party last time. All six of us were supposed to get you to calm down."

The gray mare blinked. "But...wasn't that...Spike...?"

Abruptly, the baby dragon ducked his head in. "Heh, yeah. I've been working on my rodeo skills ever since Applejack showed them to me."

"Besides," Rarity said from the group. "I just finished getting my tail styled, and my little Spikey-Wikey volunteered to take my place so I wouldn't get it all messed up again."

Immediately, Spike leaned in next to her with a dreamy look. "Anything for _you_, Rarity..."

"But seriously, dear," Rarity said, looking back to Misty. "After that incident at the party, how could you forget to take your Maltwillow again?"

Misty paused momentarily, and gulped again. "To...to tell you the truth...I didn't forget..." She muttered. "I...I just didn't take it."

The others looked surprised at that. "Huh?"

Misty looked up a bit. "Fluttershy...remember how I said I had to throw out some trash? Well...actually...that was my new medicine. I don't take Maltwillow anymore. It works, but I was taking a new magic herb called Sagewillow X. It almost eliminated my symptoms, and coupled with the new techniques I learned, I was almost able to act like a normal pony. I even started making friends back in Manehattan and got a promotion because I improved so much in how I was acting around people."

Rainbow paused on hearing this. "Wait a minute...Sagewillow X? Isn't that the stuff that the Old Gray Mares were saying turned you into a goofy zombie?"

Misty paled on hearing this, and immediately cringed again. "That's why I stopped taking it! I didn't want you all to think that I was just taking it because I was addicted to it...or that it was making me someone I wasn't... I mean, it _was,_ wasn't it? Sure, I'm more friendly and outgoing and helpful...but that's not me. That's not who I am."

The six looked back to Misty and paused momentarily. They turned and looked to each other for a moment, then back to her. Twilight offered an encouraging smile.

"...Of course it is, Misty."

The gray mare looked up at that. "...Huh?"

"Sure!" Pinkie said, suddenly ducking her head in. "It's just like that time I got sick with the flu! I was crabby and grumpy and I couldn't jump around and I told everyone to go away and that I wasn't throwing any parties, but once I took some medicine for it, I was back to being Pinkie!"

"That's...not quite what I was thinking of..." Twilight responded. "But Misty, do you get the point Pinkie is trying to make?"

Misty paused for a few seconds, thinking this over, and then looking up again.

"...You're saying that it's not these herbs that are making me a better pony...it's getting rid of what's holding me back from being a better pony."

"Exactly!" Twilight responded.

"And we don't think it's a problem just because you take herbs." Rainbow threw in with a smile. "I'll admit...I used to be a big baby about taking medicine myself. I thought I was tough enough to get through it all. And I _was_, because that's just the kind of awesome pony that I am..."

Rainbow trailed off when she saw the others looking at her, and so she slumped a bit and scratched the back of her head.

"But...you know...it _did_ make flying around and doing a bunch of cool stunts a lot easier."

"Aw shucks, Granny Smith would never be as spry as she is unless she took a little somethin' for her hip now and then." Applejack threw in. "So don't worry about it."

Misty paused a moment, but then smiled a bit more. "...Thanks, girls. Thanks for understanding." She paused, and then looked more sheepish. "Now...could someone untie me before I need to take medicine for my ankles too?"

Rarity moved over and used her own horn to pull the string free, releasing the pony. "As you can see, I do more than stitch, dearie. I always was quite good with knots."

Misty, on her part, blushed again as she got to her feet.

"Oh, oh Misty...let's go get you more Sagewillow X right away." Fluttershy suggested. "The sooner we do, the sooner you'll feel better and be able to play beautifully."

However, this made Misty's face fall again. "Uh...actually...there's a problem with that..."

* * *

About two hours later, and Misty had said everything. The six, Misty, and Spike soon went to Horse Pill's drug store and confirmed it. After that, they ran by the hospital, but, just as Mr. Pill had said, even mentioning 'Sagewillow X' was enough to start having some of the patients give the doctor a dirty look, as if waiting for him to say something so that they could accuse him. With no other recourse, the group went to the mayor herself and presented the entire case.

"So you see, mayor," Twilight responded, gesturing behind to Misty. "She _really_ needs to take Sagewillow X. It's made her a whole new pony. And she can't play for our pageant without it."

Ms. Mare adjusted her glasses. "Well...now that I've heard everything straight from the horse's mouth...and heard the six of you talking about it, six ponies who I have no reason to doubt after everything you've done for Ponyville...I'm inclined to agree with you."

The group began to brighten up.

"Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do."

The group reacted in surprise.

"But...but why?" Misty protested.

The mayor sadly shook her head. "I'm sorry, Misty. According to our town charter, the citizens of Ponyville can issue a decree if a majority of the ponies vote for it...and they did." To accent this, she turned to her own desk, plucked a scroll off of it, and then turned around and unrolled it...immediately extending to the floor and rolling out so much that the group had to recoil. "See for yourself. The only way to revoke it is if a majority of Ponyville citizens vote to undo it."

Rainbow gaped at the list a moment, and then frowned. "It's that dumb Ms. Prim Rose! She's the one who started the rumors about Sagewillow X being bad!"

"Well, be that as it may," Rarity added with a sigh. "I'm afraid that even if we were to talk to her enough to change her mind, the rest of the citizens of Ponyville would still be against it."

"And she wouldn't change her mind." Applejack frowned. "She's more stubborn than a mule in a foot of mud at the bottom of a well."

"We...we could try spreading our own message." Fluttershy suggested, but soon slumped. "But...but that would take a long time..."

"Well we've got to do _something_!" Pinkie exclaimed. "I like Moody Misty a lot better than Crazy Misty, but I'd really prefer if Nice Misty was back!"

Twilight thought for a moment. She looked out the window toward Mr. Pill's drug store. As she did, however...she noticed something else. She saw an elderly pony going by with a walker. She saw a mother pony going by with a foal who was sniffling and sneezing. She saw a work stallion grunt a bit, wincing at his shoulder, as he hauled a cart along.

On seeing all this, she smiled craftily. She turned back to the mayor soon after.

"Ms. Mare, if you can't reverse the decree...could you maybe _expand_ it just a little, so that it does exactly what it says it should do?"

The mayor blinked back, and then shrugged. "Well...I suppose so. But why?"

"Because I have an idea to make the ponies of Ponyville understand Misty...by making them walk a mile in her horseshoes."

* * *

Later that afternoon, Ms. Prim Rose was hobbling along on her cane, grunting a bit as she did so, and walking down the street. Coming up alongside her was another elderly pony, weighed down under Hearth's Warming presents. She looked to her as she came along.

"Oh, hello, Clara. Getting your shopping done?"

"Oh yes, Prim. Just one more stop...something for my back. It's been killing me under this heavy load."

"And I need some ointment for that burr on my hoof." Ms. Rose responded. "If it gets much worse, I won't be able to get around Ponyville."

After taking a few more steps, however, the two heard a commotion up ahead. Confused, they both looked forward. "Hmm...what's this?"

Right in front of them, outside of Horse Pill's drug store, there was an angry crowd of ponies...most of them members of the Old Gray Mares and the parents that they had recruited.

"Huh? What now?" Ms. Rose commented, narrowing her gaze. "He didn't go against the decree and started selling Sagewillow X again, did he? Why, I'll give him a piece of my mind for refusing to obey the law!" Immediately, she began to move forward as fast as she could with her cane.

Soon, Ms. Rose reached the crowd of ponies. It took her a bit of work, but she managed to push through them all the way to the front door, only to find that the angry crowd extended inside. Soon after, she pushed her way past them and into the building and looked around a bit.

"See here, now! What is the meaning of..."

Ms. Rose soon cut herself off and gasped as she looked inside. Every shelf in the store was blank. There wasn't so much as a breath freshener left on the shelves. Ms. Rose looked around a bit, turning over everything, but there was nothing. No products for sale at all. The other ponies had noticed as well, and they were rather upset about it. Finally, the mare went up to the front counter, where Horse Pill was standing.

"Mr. Pill, what in Equestria have you done?"

"Just followed the law, ma'am." Mr. Pill innocently responded with a shrug.

"The law?! You were only supposed to get rid of all of those sense-altering medicines!"

"Well, yeah, Ms. Rose. And that's what he did." A young voice came from nearby.

Ms. Rose, and many of the other nearby ponies, quieted down and looked to who had spoken, and saw Twilight innocently walking up to the counter at her side.

"The law strictly said 'sense-altering'. Well, if it takes away pain, it's altering your senses. If it removes irritation, it's altering your senses. If it gets rid of indigestion, it's altering your senses. These are all things your body feels naturally. Even a runny nose is your body trying to get rid of inflammation. When you take something to stop it, you're taking away your body's ability to feel that irritation. When you think about it, pretty much _all_ medicine is 'sense-altering'. So I had a chat with Ms. Mare, and she agreed that everything should be taken off the shelves."

"Guess I'll be closing the store." Mr. Pill said, shaking his head. "Oh well, always wanted to get into chicken farming anyway."

Ms. Rose was shocked. "But...but I always stop by to get ointment for the burr on my hoof!"

Rainbow abruptly dashed in and landed next to her. "Aw, you don't need that, Ms. Rose." She said with a grin. "Only a weak and silly pony needs that! Ponies who are strong can tough through it!"

Ms. Rose only looked more nervous.

"But what about me?" Another pony called. "My back is killing me from lugging around gifts all day! I can barely walk!"

Rarity suddenly popped in from behind her, looking calmly at her.

"Now, now, darling... All you need is a little will power. I'm sure you're a pony of exceptional character who can conquer any trifling adversity like that."

"Well my colt has a cold!" Another protested. "He's been coughing and sneezing all morning! He can't sleep without some medicine!"

Fluttershy gently flapped in and landed next to her with a smile. "Oh...that's alright, miss. All you have to do is give your little boy a bit more discipline and not always give him what he wants. He has to learn to be able to get through his own problems without having his parents always helping him, after all."

"But I get migraines!" A stallion outburst.

Applejack suddenly clopped over to him and put a hoof around his shoulders. "Oh, there, there, darlin'...it's all in your head, get it? It's not nearly as bad as you think. You're just plum makin' a mountain out of a molehill. Headaches are just some illness those crazy doctors cooked up so they could charge you an arm and a leg for medicine. I mean, they can't even prove where they come from!"

"Yay, everypony!" Pinkie suddenly outburst as she leapt out from behind the counter and landed on top of it. "Now everyone in Ponyville gets to be more self-controlled and have stronger character! Now we don't have any nasty herbs and pills turning us all into zombies! We're not hooked on taking any herbs or potions anymore! We're free! FREE! Isn't it wonderful that we're all better ponies?"

None of the ponies looked convinced at that or happy in the least about it. However, many of their own words, claims, and tenets were now coming back to haunt them, and it was making them rather uneasy and cringe. Abruptly, however, Ms. Rose stomped forward.

"Oh, for goodness sakes! This is outrageous! We have _legitimate_ medical concerns! We were diagnosed by doctors and everything!"

Twilight stared back, then simply smiled and shrugged. "Well, the Paces is a legitimate medical concern too. How do you know that the doctors weren't wrong when they diagnosed you? I mean, Ms. Rose, look at you. You're not exactly bedridden or in a hospital. You're getting around easy enough. I mean, I'm sure it'll be a bit harder, but you're a strong pony. You have a lot of character and will power. Surely you can tough through just a little pain, right?"

Ms. Rose fumed a moment, and then retorted. "But that's not the point! It's not a matter of how strong of a pony you are or how much character you have! There are some pains and illnesses in life that are just too hard for a pony to deal with on their own! And even if they could, it's nice to have a little help and relief every once in a while! Even if you can get by, it makes us better ponies and better citizens if we're able to do things besides just think about dealing with pain and sickness all the time! It doesn't make you any less of a pony for wanting that!"

Twilight stared back at Ms. Rose for a moment...before standing to one side...allowing Misty, who was standing behind her, to walk forward.

"You know something, Ms. Rose? You're absolutely right." She said as she came up to her. "And that's something that I learned over the past few days. None of you are any less of a pony for wanting to get some relief from pain that keeps you from being the best pony you can be. Whether you have a burr or a backache or a headache or a cold or whatever, it's not right for anyone to say you're weak or a 'zombie' if you try to get some help for your illness.

"Ms. Rose...my name is Misty Meadow, and I have the Paces. Whether you think a doctor is wrong to declare that or not, the fact of the matter is that when I started taking Sagewillow X, I stopped being worried about things I couldn't control, I started listening to the concerns of other ponies, and I stopped obsessing over small things to the point where I scared away or confused other ponies. Those are all my problems..._my_ illness. And they're problems that are too big for me to deal with on my own no matter how hard I try. If you want to think of me as being a 'weak-willed zombie' for taking Sagewillow X, that's your own right. You can _think_ whatever you want...but I _know_ that I'm a better pony, a better helper, a better piano player, and a better friend when I take it. All I'm asking is that you and the other ponies in Ponyville think the same way about me as you would think of any pony that was suffering from an illness...that I deserve to be able to treat myself so I can get back to being the best pony I can be."

Ms. Rose held on hearing this. She looked back to the other ponies in the drug store, who seemed to hear Misty's words, and ease up a bit, looking a bit uncomfortable and hesitant. They thought about this for a few moments, and all of them seemed to relent. In the end, when Ms. Rose looked back, she too seemed hesitant. She closer her eyes and sighed.

"Everypony...I think we need to petition the mayor to make another decree..."

* * *

_Dear Princess Celestia,_

_Last time Misty Meadow was in town, she taught me a valuable lesson about snapping to judge other ponies too quickly. As it turns out, she wasn't done teaching me, or the rest of town, that lesson after her first visit._

* * *

A line to city hall formed within the hour, even before Ms. Mare finished drafting the new resolution. Ponies readily signed it, and before two hours had gone by, the latest decree was put into effect...reversing the old decision.

* * *

_We all have our own opinions about things, but before rushing to make condemnations and accusations about other ponies based on them, we should take a moment to consider what the impact might be, and how we might be hurting people who are really close to us through our own thoughtlessness._

* * *

Soon after, Misty, her six friends, Spike, and even Ms. Rose and some of the Old Gray Mares worked together to start restocking the shelves, and many of the older folks gave Misty an encouraging smile as she was the first to get a new supply of Sagewillow X and take her first dose.

* * *

_It's all too easy to make blanket statements about ponies when we think they're some pony "over there", but our words and actions can truly hurt, especially if our words and actions are based on heresay and not facts. We may end up doing serious harm to a friend or neighbor living right in the same community as us._

* * *

Soon after, Misty resumed helping out her friends in their activites, and with renewed energy and focus was soon an assistance rather than a hindrance once again.

* * *

"'Being a true friend means you understand everything about a given situation before throwing in your own two bits on it, and not go off based on rumor and supposition. After all, you owe it to your friends. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.'" After that, the unicorn looked to her side. "Did you get all that, Spike?"

"Yup!" The dragonservant responded from a nearby chair at the cafe, before rolling up the message and exhaling a blast of green flame to send it to their goddess.

"So, how are you feeling now, Misty?" Rarity asked.

"Over 100% better." The gray mare said with a relieved exhale. "I'm back at the top of my game. I'll have those songs memorized in plenty of time for the pageant."

"And _I'll_ be done with the last of the snowfall by tomorrow night!" Rainbow threw in. "Then it'll be back to chillin' for the rest of the holidays!" She paused, and then shook her head. "I mean...decorating and shopping."

"And I'll be all caught up at the bakery by tomorrow!" Pinkie chimed in as she continued to dump more marshmallows into her drink. "But it's so weird...I really don't know how I'm getting all these orders finished..."

"Well, it shore took a bit of extra time to stock them shelves at Horse Pill's drug store..." Applejack added. "But I'm thinkin' the payoff we got will more than make up for it. Heck, I may even get a chance to take Applebloom skatin' before Hearth's Warmin'. She's been beggin' me ever since the lake froze."

"Yes...it seems everything is back to normal," Rarity said with a sip of her hot chocolate. "And everything will be in order for a wonderful Hearth's Warming Eve."

"Yes...but...could we perhaps do just one, teeny, tiny thing differently?" Fluttershy suddenly asked meekly.

The others looked to her curiously. "What's that?"

"Get a larger table the next time all eight of us are out."

The ponies and dragon looked to their table...only to see that they were elbow to elbow, and that the tiny table was overstuffed with hot chocolate, marshmallows, and cookies...and, a second later, the main post creaked and collapsed under the weight. The eight looked up to each other in response, but then all broke out into a laugh.

* * *

THE END


End file.
